


A Dusty Letter and Long Overdue Closure

by uncagingwardens



Series: Mabari Bred - The Story Of Two Cousland Sisters [4]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mention of Character Death (Eleanor Cousland), read Brittle first or this wont make much sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 04:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5992198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uncagingwardens/pseuds/uncagingwardens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the morning of the wedding, and Bri finds a letter penned to her when she was a little girl from none other than her mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Dusty Letter and Long Overdue Closure

**Author's Note:**

> Definitely read 'Brittle' first before this, or it won't make much sense!!

She unwound her hair from her braid and brushed it out gently, sitting gently before her mother’s old vanity. The mirrors had not dimmed though they were kept under a dusty tarp for over a decade. No one to sit before it, to check their face before starting their day. Across the smooth surface lay a fine silver brush and a tiara. It was to serve as an anchor for her veil.

The vanity had been moved out of storage and into her bedroom at the announcement of her engagement, as if the idea that she was going to be wed was enough to make her become a proper Lady, one deserving of her stature.

No, to her it just meant she was going to be with someone she loved, take his name and perhaps begin a family eventually. She was not his property or something to solely show off at parties. They were a team, and she was happy with him. They made each other happy.

But, the vanity was just like she remembered: dark wood and curving legs. Something ornate and Orlesian, she was sure. Possibly a wedding gift from some noble. The only things missing were the tiny bottles of perfume her mother used to keep along the mirror, and the small bowl of hair pins.

Bri sighed heavily, resting her hand on the surface of the wood before opening one of the small drawers embedded in the side of the piece. It opened easily, no resistance to hold it firmly inside.

Laying there innocently, covered in dust, was a letter with Bri’s name elegantly scripted across the front of the parchment, the ends sealed with blue wax and her family seal. A lead weight settled in her stomach as she lifted the innocent-looking letter, left many years ago by her own mother.

Trembling fingers gently pulled the seal open, leaning back in the seat as she spread the cream-colored parchment covered in dainty blue ink open. She was nervous, but even that was an understatement. She’d had quite the strained relationship with her mother growing up. They’d fight back and forth for days on end, because both of them were overly stubborn and Bri was more than capable of having a fit in the middle of court just to be embarrassing.

She was kind of an ass as a little girl. But, as she scanned the letter, her heart squeezed tight.

 

_My darling Brienne,_

_Maker take me, but you are so stubborn. So beautiful and headstrong; you’re going to give your father a run for his money when you get older. I wish you would not try to grow up so fast. You’re just a little girl, and yet you want to be an apprentice, work with the dogs and, as you put it, bring the dogs back._

_I want nothing more than to wrap you in my arms and keep you safe from all the bad things in this world. But, you would fight me every inch of the way, and I know that for a fact. I may smack your hands and make you take extra lessons, but I just wish to save you from having to fight for what you believe in. It’s much easier to fight from the high ground than down in the trenches._

_I grew up a Bann’s daughter, I grew up a fighter. I do not wish that for you or your siblings. I want you to be free of that sort of life, to be happy in what you want to do._

_But, our names do carry a heavy weight to them, and I just want you to be able to handle that sort of a burden on your little shoulders. I do not regret you, but I do not want you stuck in the trappings of a war. It is no place for you, for any of us._

_I just wanted to tell you that no matter what you do, who you love or who you become, I will always be and have always been unequivocally proud of my little girl. You are my sunshine, my moon and stars._

_I love you so very much, my love._

_Mama_

Something small and silver fell into her lap, a circular pendant with her full name inscribed in it. Bri lifted it with shaking hands and bleary eyes, tears actively falling onto her cheeks as she desperately wiped them away. The pendant was on a silver chain, one that she carefully placed around her neck.

To finally have that sort of closure… It drove her to sobs, cupping her face in her hands as her elbows pressed into the surface of the vanity. Having all that fear that she was never enough for someone she could no longer talk to, touch or look at disappear was a huge weight from her chest that she did not know she carried.

It was a relief long overdue, a possible sign from the Maker that things were going to be okay. That this was the plan all along.

And she was okay with that for the moment.


End file.
